Written, produced, directed, shot, edited, and scored by Doug Roos (The Sky Has Fallen), Bakemono is a Japanese based horror that is stated to be a metaphor for the dark side of Tokyo. Having lived in Tokyo for the past six years, Roos' horror is an outsiders perspective on all the darkness hidden away in the city. Shot in a relatively non-linear fashion, with a revolving cast of characters, this keeps you guessing till the end, while maintaining a persistent feeling of dread.
The film is centered on a cheap Airbnb in which a demonic creature resides. It charts multiple people's ill fated stays at the place, with the guests either being attacked and killed by the mute monster, or affected by its evil presence and turning on each other. Chief of these characters is Mitsuo (Takashi Irie), the owner of the Airbnb, who appears well aware of the horror contained within.
The path this film takes is one that doesn't really leave room for protagonists. There are many many different mini stories taking place all in the same location, with it not clear which ones are the most essential to be paying attention to. While the film is non linear, it still follows a slightly linear path, albeit with different sets of characters representing the beginning, middle, and end of the story being told. This works at keeping you guessing as the viewer, but many of these characters seemed set-up to be cannon fodder for the grotesque monster. This created opportunity for fun callbacks, even if for the majority of this it didn't really matter what part was taking place when. Characters at the Airbnb discover items left from previous guests, they discover hidden notes warning of the danger of the apartment, as well as have their own personal stories going on. It culminates in a three way finale in which there are three separate subplots going on, any of which could reasonably assumed to be the actual end to the movie, creating tension with the knowledge that likely two of these three are red herrings and will end in failure by that current protagonist.
As a metaphor for evil in Japanese society, there are many topics covered, mainly with the various guests. You have topics of infidelity, over working, xenophobia, rape, racial discrimination and more, with a broad range of characters who include foreigners, locals, friends, lovers, family and more. The forever present monster hidden often just out of view was a good analogy for these unspoken troubles that persist. Briefly on the subject of rape, there was one inventively gruesome rape scene included here that was impressively dark.
The make-up and practical special effects for the monster were superb. It doesn't really do much in a physical sense, but its very presence can affect the minds of those it is around. One early scene has a girl stabbing her friend repeatedly with a fork, her mind affected by the creature. The demonic thing is a physical construct, able to be attacked, though it responds with writhing tentacles and metallic darts it shoots out. It is hard to explain what it looks like, basically if you skinned someone and then ran a cheese grater over all of their exposed under-flesh! It is very fleshy looking, and the fact it often doesn't even move adds to the horror of its design. I loved the special effects here, the tentacles that squirm about, the wound effects. One nice part that comes to mind is when someone attempts to stamp on part of the creature, with this resulting in their foot getting impaled with metal spikes. In another part, it seemed to me that a character literally had their jaw ripped off their face. These attacks from both victim and attacker alike are full of lovely squelchy sound effects that sell the violence being inflicted on screen.
By having multiple characters stories playing out, it could at times be seen a little as struggling to maintain a core focus. By the second half of this hundred minute horror there are some characters who have become established, especially for the final twenty or so minute three-way finale. It was fun guessing who would live and who would die, even if it was typically the later. All parts of this are linked by the feeling of persistent unease, there might not have been variety outside of the core horror, and occasionally splitting up various story-lines can create a slight feel of dragging, but I have to say this impressed me. I hoped for a good horror, and with Bakemono you have that, wonderfully edited, fantastic special effects, and great creature design, this was something special. Bakemono had its premiere at Another Hole in the Head Film Festival on December 9th.
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